Glima is the name that covers several types of Nordic

folk wrestling A folk wrestling style is any traditional style of wrestling, which may or may not be codified as a modern sport. Most cultures have developed regional forms of grappling. Europe Britain Traditionally wrestling has two main centres in Great ...

practiced as sport and combat. In one common form of glima, players grip their opponent by the waist and attempt to throw them to the ground using technique rather than force. Other variants allow for more aggression.

History

The original Norwegian settlers in Iceland took wrestling with them, and these combat systems have been used by the populace according to the Jónsbók law book from 1325. A modern trouser-grip glima competition was first held in Iceland in 1888 and has been held almost every year since. In 1905 the belt was introduced so that the wrestlers could have a better grip on each other. Before that they held on to each other's trousers. In 1906 the first competition for the ''Belt of

Grettir ''Grettis saga Ásmundarsonar'' (modern , reconstructed ), also known as ''Grettla'', ''Grettir's Saga'' or ''The Saga of Grettir the Strong'', is one of the Icelanders' sagas. It details the life of Grettir Ásmundarson, a bellicose Icelandic out ...

'' was held where the winners are named ''The Glima King''. In the

1912 Summer Olympics The 1912 Summer Olympics ( sv, Olympiska sommarspelen 1912), officially known as the Games of the V Olympiad ( sv, Den V olympiadens spel) and commonly known as Stockholm 1912, were an international multi-sport event held in Stockholm, Sweden, be ...

there was a demonstration of modern trouser-grip glima.

Variants

Trouser-grip wrestling

The trouser-grip (''brókartök'') version is by far the most widespread in Iceland and is Iceland's national sport. It favours technique over strength. The wrestlers wear a special belt around the waist and additional belts on the lower thighs of each leg, which connect to the main belt. A fixed grip is then taken with one hand in the belt and the other in the trousers at thigh height. From this position the glima-wrestler attempts to trip and throw his opponent. In this style of glima, a thrown wrestler may attempt to land on his feet and hands and if he succeeds in doing so he has not lost the fall. The winning condition in this type of glima is to make the opponent touch the ground with an area of the body between the elbow and the knee. Glimabelt

There are four points that differentiate it from other forms of wrestling: *The opponents must always stand erect. *The opponents step clockwise around each other (looks similar to a

waltz The waltz ( ), meaning "to roll or revolve") is a ballroom and folk dance, normally in triple ( time), performed primarily in closed position. History There are many references to a sliding or gliding dance that would evolve into the wa ...

). This is to create opportunities for offence and defence, and to prevent a

stalemate Stalemate is a situation in the game of chess where the player whose turn it is to move is not in check and has no legal move. Stalemate results in a draw. During the endgame, stalemate is a resource that can enable the player with the inferior ...

. *It is not permitted to fall down on your opponent or to push him down in a forceful manner, as it is not considered sportsman-like. *The opponents are supposed to look across each other's shoulders as much as possible because it is considered proper to wrestle by touch and feel rather than sight. The core of the system are eight main techniques, which form the basic training for approximately 50 ways to execute a throw or takedown. Surrounding glima is a code of honour called ''drengskapur'' that calls for fairness, respect for and caring about the security of one's training partners. The word ''glíma'' is the Icelandic term for "

wrestling Wrestling is a series of combat sports involving grappling-type techniques such as clinch fighting, throws and takedowns, joint locks, pins and other grappling holds. Wrestling techniques have been incorporated into martial arts, combat ...

" in general. The same word has also a wider meaning of "struggle". Glima differs from other ethnic wrestling styles in three ways: * Upright position – The contestants must remain upright. The body position in many other ethnic wrestling styles is often bent over at the waist, but in glima this is called ousting and is banned. * Stepping – Glima involves the contestants constantly stepping back and forth in a clockwise direction. This stepping—"stígandi"—is one of the characteristics of glima and is designed to avoid a standstill and create opportunities for offence and attack. * A ban on knocking over – It is forbidden to push your opponent down with force. This is considered to be unsportsmanlike and in opposition to the nature of glima as a sport for honorable sportsmen and women. Opponents should be conquered by using a well implemented grip that makes the opponent fall gracefully to the ground without any further action.

Backhold wrestling

Backhold wrestling—''(hryggspenna)''—is more similar to other styles of wrestling and is considered to be more a test of strength than of technique. In backhold wrestling the opponents take hold of each other's upper body; whoever touches the ground with any part of the body except the feet has lost.

Loose-grip wrestling

In loose-grip wrestling—''(lausatök)''—the contestants may use any holds they wish. It is much more aggressive and differs in many ways from other styles of glima. Loose-grip wrestling comes in two forms: A version for

self-defence Self-defense (self-defence primarily in Commonwealth English) is a countermeasure that involves defending the health and well-being of oneself from harm. The use of the right of self-defense as a legal justification for the use of force in ...

and a version for friendly competition. In both, all kinds of wrestling techniques are allowed, but in the friendly version they are still taught to be executed in a way so they won't cause the opponent injury. In such a friendly match, the winner is considered the one who is still standing while the other is lying on the ground. This means that if both the opponents fall to the ground together, the match will continue on the ground by the use of techniques to keep the other down while getting up yourself. Even more divergent from other forms of glima is loose-grip glima when trained purely for self-defence. In such training the harmful and hurtful techniques or ways of executing the techniques, that are not accepted in other forms of glima, are explored in as free and creative a way as possible while not injuring one's training partners. This form of glima is practised at the Norwegian Glima Championship and Lausatök Combat Glima Finland.

References

External links

A video from 1932 showcasing glimaList of winner of the prize ''Belt of Grettir''
Iceland's Glima Association {{Authority control Folk wrestling styles Sport in Iceland Historical European martial arts